Posts tagged Fantasy Football

Last week our friends at DraftKings invited us to Staples Center for the official unveiling of the DraftKings Fantasy Sports Bar & Lounge. Located inside the arena just past the box office, the new 4,500-sq.-ft. F&B concept is loaded with monitors and touch-screen tablets so LA sports fans can get their daily fantasy sports fix going while watching the Kings, Clippers and Lakers compete. Designed with the feel of a Vegas sports book, the $1.5 million dollar craft beer and gastro pub was completed in a very quick timeframe and features 35 Toshiba Smart TVs, six Toshiba Virtuoso Screens, 15 Microsoft Surface Tablets and four iMacs. Fans can sign up or log in to their DraftKings accounts through these devices in order to enter tournaments, unlock food discounts and sign up for ticket giveaways.

The menu for this new spot was designed by Josiah Citrin and features some pretty scrumptious takes on classic bar food like hot dogs with mac and cheese. Fans thirsty for a a Bud Light alternative inside Staples will be happy. with the selection of Goose Island options on tap.

In addition to the AEG and DraftKings cutting the ribbon on their new DFS hangout, DraftKings also presented a $2 million check to week one winner BALLAH who came from behind on the first Monday Night of the season to put up 228.04 points and take home the top spot in the DraftKings Millionaire Maker Week 1 league.

This BALLAH fella and his buddies looked familiar to me. Turns out they all went to my hye school. Glendale High breeds some pretty savvy fantasy football enthusiasts, and these guys were no different. BALLAH and his boys have been playing in yearly leagues for more than a decade. They all knew their stuff, too.

Going into that first Monday Night BALLAH’s $2 million winning lineup was sitting in 3,000th place. Carlos Hyde’s two scores and final six yards put BALLAH over the top. Here’s his lineup:

“The thing is,” BALLAH told me, “you need like 30 points from each spot. You can maybe miss on one guy but you need that kind of production out of each spot.”

That’s definitely a different approach from your regular fantasy football decision making. In a standard league, you hope that all your guys will produce, but you’re happy to get 10 points out of your flex spot. You want each slot to give you numbers, but with DFS, you’re forced to go big. You have to build your lineup using a budget, yes, but you need those home run hitters in there. You gotta go for the boom and bust dude that’s undervalued, not for the consistent player who will guarantee you steady production without a ton of upside.

BALLAH’s score of 228 was good enough to win it all week 1. The next week’s DraftKings Millionaire Maker featured a top scorer who cracked 300 points. Imagine that. Typically your happy if you can crack that 100 point week barrier with your standard annual fantasy team. If you’re near 200, you’re totally dominating. But when the whole field has access to the same players with the same budget restraints, you need to think bigger. You need to aim for 30 points from each spot.

So keep that in mind next time you dabble in daily fantasy sports. If you’re playing to win big, you need big time production from every single start. That likely means passing on trustworthy point scorers so you can swing for the fences on guys who have higher week-to-week ceilings.

The Manning brothers are back at it. They are looking to secure their names in rap history with another fantastic song about football. This time they are spitting rhymes about their love for fantasy football. Jets running back Chris Johnson makes an appearance as well as Jets great Joe Namath.

Eli and Peyton’s dad, Archie gets a cameo. This video has everything you need to get you in the mood for fantasy football. Enjoy!

Fans of the NFL or ESPN know who Herman Edwards is. The former NFL player that made a name for himself with the Philadelphia Eagles also was a head coach for the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs. Edwards was the player who recovered a fumble by Giants quarterback Joe Pisarcik on a play that has been nicknamed “The Miracle at the Meadowlands.”

You can now catch Herm breaking down the NFL as an analyst for ESPN. Not only does Edwards still stay close to his passion by talking football, but he goes around the country to speak in front of large crowds. Whether he is speaking on a college campus or at a business convention, when he speaks people listen.

I had the great pleasure of talking with Herm about his time in the NFL as a player and as a head coach. Since I am a football fan I did ask him to breakdown this upcoming NFL season and tell me who he thought will be playing in the Super Bowl.

Art Eddy: First off let’s talk some NFL for this upcoming season. You do an outstanding job on ESPN. You are informative, funny, and to the point. So which teams do you think will have a great season?

Herman Edwards: This is a quarterback driven league. Yet I say that with some hesitation in the fact that this preseason right now there are a lot of injuries. There are some critical injuries too. Some guys that are going to lose some time especially when you think about Denver. They were the favorite going in this year to go to the Super Bowl.

The have lost some key components. When you lose (Von) Miller and (Elvis) Dumervil due to the fact that you didn’t get a contract done right and the other kid didn’t pass the drug test. Well now that is 30 sacks out of the building. That is not good. How do you replace that? Now their schedule will say that if they can get past the first six weeks, then they can make a run like they did last year. You still have to look at them as one of the favorites in the AFC.

New England I think is always going to be in the mix. I think that they are still good enough to win the AFC East. In the AFC North I think the favorite is Cincinnati. You look at the NFC West it is going to be between San Francisco and Seattle. I think Seattle is the team in the end that will be playing Denver in the Super Bowl.

AE: Which team or player do you think will look to have a breakout year?

HE: I think Dez Bryant is maturing as a wide receiver. I really like him. I think he is going to have an outstanding year. I think the rookie down in Arizona, Tyrann Mathieu, I think he is going to make a bunch of big plays. We are going to be talking about him a lot on “SportsCenter.” He has instincts that you can’t teach. I like that in the guy. I watched him in college. I think that he is a guy that is always around the ball who can do something. It seems like every preseason game it is like he just made another play. If he can keep his life in order off the field he is going to be a very good football player.

A lot of people are saying that Andrew Luck will be having a down year. I don’t know that. I watched Andrew Luck in college. It didn’t surprise me that he had seven fourth quarter comebacks. It is going to be a fun year. There is always going to be a guy that explodes that comes on the scene. So we will just have to wait and see.

AE: Many Dallas Cowboys fans and fantasy football owners hope that you are right in that Dez Bryant will have a breakout year.

HE: Yea, especially for fantasy fans. They love touchdowns. (Laughs)

AE: I know your mantra is “Next man up.” There seems to be a lot of injuries this preseason. Which teams are going to feel the biggest brunt of the injury bug this year?

HE: Obviously you have to look at Denver. That is a team that is like whoa. You lost Miller and you already lost Dumervil. That is a problem. I think that when you look at the Pittsburgh Steelers they lost Le’Veon Bell. They were counting on him to run the football. Now he is gone along with Mike Wallace.

You look at the players on free agency that leave and you look at the players that go hurt and the offensive line in Pittsburgh that really struggled. Now you have the same scenario with Ben (Roethlisberger). He is running around trying to protect himself. When I watched Ben play against Washington it looked like the Ben of old. Running around trying to make plays. The offense didn’t look too different to me.

AE: This is where guys on the bench have their moment to step up. That happened to you as a player when you started out your career with the Philadelphia Eagles. What was it like to finally reach the top of the football mountain and be a starter in the NFL?

HE: When you are young you have these wild dreams. I think kids should always dream. Especially when I speak to young people I tell them we are very goal orientated. Your parents or your teachers say write down your goals. I tell them this. It is more than just writing down your goals. A goal without a plan is a wish.

You have to have a plan. When people tell me their goals, I say okay what is your plan? I had a plan to learn and to dedicate myself and to sacrifice myself. To make sure that if I didn’t make it as a pro football player I didn’t have any excuse. We sometimes reflect on our lives and use excuses for some of the situations we put ourselves in or not achieving the goal that we set out. You have to understand your talent level. Then you have to understand your passion.

I believe God gives everyone a talent. A lot of people are in search of that and they struggle. Then there is work involved in it and there is sacrifice. There is an old saying at the barbershop, ‘Everyone wants to go to Heaven, but no one wants to die.’ What are you willing to sacrifice to achieve that goal?

When I was young there were things that I was willing to sacrifice that other people didn’t want to do to be an athlete. So when I made it I was like okay how do you stay here? It is the same old story. You got to work. You have to roll up your sleeves and go to work. You have to want to get better. You can’t live on your laurels. There is a guy out there that is working just as hard. He is trying to take your job.

That is the one thing about pro football. You don’t graduate. Not like college. You have a graduating class in high school. You have a graduating class in college. In pro football you have to take somebody’s job. I think sometimes we don’t realize that the hardest competition is within. You have to learn how to compete against yourself. See I never competed against an opponent. I played right corner for ten years. It didn’t matter who the wide receiver was. It was about me competing against me. How much better can I compete against myself? That was always the driving force for me.

AE: I guess you already answered my next question which was, who was the toughest receiver you had to guard in the NFL? I guess you were your toughest challenge.

HE: People always ask that question. I say this. If you can play at the professional level, you are pretty good. You are one of the best players in the world. If you are a professional athlete you are the best. You are pretty good.

AE: You also moved up the ranks in coaching. You started in college and worked your way into the NFL. When did you realize you wanted to become a head coach?

HE: I never wanted to become a head coach. (Laughs.)

AE: Really?

HE: No, no. Not at all. That was never my goal to be quite honest. My goal after playing was to give back to football. It had given so much to me. I first got in as a scout. I think that helped me to become a coach. I was a scout for the Kansas City Chiefs for two years. I first went to college and coached at San Jose State. Then I left the college job and went to the Kansas City Chiefs and worked with Marty (Schottenheimer), Tony (Dungy), and Bill Cowher. There I learned how to scout.

I think that is so important about how you can learn about players when you scout. How to view players and how to evaluate players. You learn how to evaluate different positions, which I thought was great. Then from there I became a secondary coach. I was satisfied being a secondary coach. I had a group of guys that I enjoy coaching. Then I went with Tony to Tampa to be an assistant coach. Then after two years being there I got calls about becoming a coordinator. Tony said that I didn’t need to become a coordinator. You just sit here and be an assistant head coach and one day you will be head coach.

I said I didn’t want to be a head coach, but he said you will be a head coach. For Paul Tagliabue I was on his list. He gave me the privilege to some owner meetings with the GM’s and head coaches. It was almost like an interview process. I was the only assistant head coach that was at those meetings. I actually spoke at one of them. They were grooming me to be a head coach. I was on the fast track, but really had no intentions.

I had no ambitions of being a head coach. Why would you want that job? It is a thankless job. So sure enough these calls started coming in. I had five interviews. My first interview was with New York. A few days after the interview the Jets call me and say you need to come back up here. I asked why and they said if I wanted the job it was mine. So I said okay. (Laughs) You just sit there and say whoa. It was a lot of fun. I really appreciated the opportunity Woody Johnson gave me to become a head coach.

This weekend the NFL preseason began with the Hall of Fame festivities in Canton. Saturday saw Cris Carter, Jonathan Ogden, Dave Robinson, Larry Allen, Bill Parcells, Curley Culp and Warren Sapp enter into the hall. The Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins will play the first preseason game of the 2013 season tonight. This means that we are now less than a month away from the kickoff to the regular season.

I can’t wait for this time of the year. It means watching the games and starting up fantasy football leagues. If you are like me you are in at least three to four leagues per year. With all the time and effort spent on building the best team out there you want to see a return on your investment. Here are five ways to help you get an edge in your fantasy league.

1. Podcasts

Just like any other topic there are many podcasts on fantasy football. The good thing about these podcasts are that the hosts put in all the time and effort into researching the best players. Make their hard work pay off for you. One podcast that I listen to for solid fantasy football insight that also makes me is laugh is the “Duke and Boy Show.”

These guys are funny, but they get you ready week in and week out with great analysis. Plus they have very knowledgeable guests on their show. Writers from CBS Sports, Sports Illustrated, and more. They even have NFL players on the show to breakdown players in the league as well. So the next time you are at the gym or in your car just listen to the “Duke and Boy Show” to help with your fantasy team.

2. Watching Preseason Games

Now there are NFL fans out there that can’t stand to watch the preseason games. For the life of me I don’t get those people. I love watching any NFL game that is on the TV. Watching these games help you pick out the sleepers for this year’s draft. The more games you watch you get to see what players are making a constant contribution to their team. Not only are you noticing those players, but the coaching staff is doing that as well.

When you are drafting in the late rounds you can pick up another kicker or the running back that looks to steal the spotlight from an aging veteran. I have had a few successes (and fails to be fair) of a drafting a few sleepers by watching games in the preseason.

3. Be the Commissioner of Your League

Now by no means am I suggesting you use your powers as the commissioner to break the fantasy football code of ethics. Fantasy football karma is real and you don’t want to abuse your power. Being the commissioner of your league allows you to reach out to those friends and family members you want in the league.

If you don’t like the people that win on beginner’s luck don’t invite a newbie. If one guy keeps on stealing your draft picks each year, don’t invite him. You get the picture? Set up the league with friends who make the league competitive, but not the ones that drive you crazy.

4. Be Patient

You will find each week a guy you either want to drop or pick up. WAIT! Don’t make any foolish moves or trades. You drafted that guy for a reason. Give that player at least three weeks to see if they pan out. Some players jump right out of the gate, while others need a few games under their belt. If your bench can handle that latter player keep him there. One he might start scoring points for you or you can use that player as trade bait.

5. Don’t Be a Homer

Not talking about Homer Simpson, but “that guy” who drafts everyone from his favorite team. One or two players sure. Let’s say if you are a New Orleans Saints fan drafting Drew Brees and Jimmy Graham is definitely the smart move. Taking all the wide outs, tight ends, and running backs from the Saints is a big faux pas. Be a homer by wearing all your favorite team’s gear, not by drafting them.

Hopefully these tips can make you the champion in your league. If you do win the championship by using this article I don’t mind a few dollars thrown my way. Just sayin!

If you are into fantasy baseball or football leagues you know the name Matthew Berry. The man dubbed “The Talented Mr. Roto” can be seen on ESPN or heard on podcasts everywhere breaking down who you need and should draft for your fantasy league.

This month Matthew released his book called “Fantasy Life.” Whether you are a fan of fantasy leagues or not this is a must read. There are stories in this book that will inspire you, make you cry, make you laugh, and reassure you that you are not as crazy as you thought. There are stories of people eating moths as a rite of passage to get into one league and in another league you must get a tattoo if you come in last place. See you and your league are not so crazy after all.

“Fantasy Life” is a great read. You find out where Matthew got his start in the entertainment field and at what age he started his journey into the fantasy sports world. Get the book here!

Matthew was able to chat with me about the book, working at ESPN, and he even gave me his top three players that you should draft for this year’s fantasy football league.

Art Eddy: Lot of questions I want to ask you, but let’s start out talking about your fantastic book “Fantasy Life.” Love all the stories that you share whether they are your own or if they are from other people like the tattoo league. When did you realize you wanted to write this book?

Matthew Berry: This is going to sound a little bit trite, but it is a two part answer. The trite part is I felt like I finally had a last chapter. Book starts off with me as a fourteen year old boy in my very first fantasy league. If you have ever read my columns you know that I always put in a personal story in every single column.

Every chapter has a personal story in my life starting when I was fourteen years old ending up at ESPN, married, and the birth of my daughter. So I felt like I finally had kind of a last chapter that the journey, not over, but completed. At least that particular journey. From point A to point B that coincided with the rise of fantasy sports in America.

The other thing was that I had so many stories that I wanted to do something with them. I didn’t have any place to put them. You mention the tattoo league. There are these guys in Omaha, Nebraska called the tattoo league. Go to YouTube and search “tattoo league” and you will see it. It is hilarious. The loser of this league has to get a tattoo chosen by the winner. It is unreal. There is a twenty five year old guy that is walking around Nebraska right now with a tattoo of Justin Bieber’s face. They sent me that. They have done this for three years now. I am like I got to do something with that. I got to put this in a book. I got to do something with this. So those were the two things.

AE: You started playing in fantasy leagues at the age of fourteen. There are a lot of mentions in your book where how leagues worked back in the day to now. Smartphones and tablets help people out these days. Are you a traditionalist or are you happy with all the great innovations there are now for the world of fantasy leagues?

MB: To answer your question it is a little bit of both. Obviously I like the fact that I can play fantasy football on my phone or my iPad. The one thing that I am old school about is and is kind of disappointing is that thanks to all the great advances in technology you no longer have to be in the same room to draft. I think that it lessens the experience.

Drafting is such a great day and experience. It is so amazing. I got unbelievable draft stories in the book. Two hours before he is supposed to draft a guy gets called into work. Everyone is like this is the only time that we are together and the season starts tomorrow. He is like, ‘Dude, what do you want from me? I need this job. Somebody called in sick. They called me into work. I got to do it. I can’t lose this job.’

They are going to go to his work and do the draft while he is at work. The place where the guy was working was the Red Robin restaurant, where he was dressed as the Red Robin. Every ten minutes or so he would waddle over see what they picked. As he said it turns out a cheat sheet in taped inside my beak was not ideal. But he ended up getting it done.

You can do it online and you can do it from your phone, but that is a memory that they will always have. It was the most fun draft that they ever had in the history of this league. I got a picture in this book with nine guys and this guy in a big red bird costume. It is just one of those things where I think that I am old school in that you need to be in the same room to draft. I hate the online draft.

AE: Speaking of pictures in the book. How many times do you get a Napoleon Dynamite reference when people see that picture of you when you were fourteen?

MB: Every time. I think that I have a lawsuit there. I got the big frizzy hair and the thick glasses. It was brutal. I absolutely have a lawsuit against Napoleon Dynamite.

AE: I am a big fan of fantasy leagues. I love being in them. Not only does being in a league make the NFL more interesting, but the relationships that are created and maintained is something you illustrate in your book. I love the story about BJ and his friends coming to visit him in the hospital. With all the stories you have seen it just goes to show the reader how strong a bond people have in these leagues right?

MB: Absolutely. They are an extended family. They are the people who you become closest to. I think that is one of the themes that is in the book. It is sort of what fantasy means. There are a lot of wacky hijinks obviously. There are crazy stories, but there are also stories about fantasy bringing people together. Families, husbands, wives. I talk about the league that I do with my wife, my kids, their friends, and their parents as well. Fantasy brings people together.

AE: How many texts do you get from your close friends for help with their fantasy team? Any sport worse than others?

MB: Maybe ten or fifteen, not a ton. Most have already emailed me earlier in the week. I get some panicked texts Sunday morning, but not a crazy amount. I get a couple thousand tweets. It’s insane. There is no lack of people trying to get advice one way or the other.

AE: For people who are looking to get into fantasy leagues, is football the best sport to try first?

MB: You should join a league with a sport that you love. If you are a baseball fan and not a football fan it makes a lot more sense to go there. In general you are right. (Football) is a shorter season. There are less players to know. In fantasy football it is mostly the stars that you are drafting. It is the quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers. It’s a tight end. It is a team defense. So it is all name players.

Baseball and basketball go a little bit deeper. It is an easier barrier to enter. There is also a lot more people playing, so it is easier to find a league. I feel like everyone has a fantasy football league.

AE: You are a father and you say you do a few leagues with the family. Isn’t that a great way for a family to bond? Well unless you are Michael All who beat up his 66 year old dad over their fantasy league. When you saw that story did you question if that story was even real?

MB: Yea. I found it through news reports. It is one of those things where you say where did life go wrong? What happened on the path where you find yourself in a fantasy league with your father and then beating him up over payouts?

The thing that I love about that is can imagine you got to jail and you get your one call. The kid, his one call is like, ‘Hey mom, can you bail me out of jail? I kind of beat up dad.’ What the hell?

AE: Speaking of fatherhood your chapter on cheating is a good way to show your kids that cheaters never win. Just another great way fantasy leagues help us in life. Do you talk to your kids on cheating using your family’s fantasy league as an example?

MB: Well for us it is a very low stakes league. So no, we never had the opportunity. Something hasn’t come up where we needed to address it. I am the commissioner of the league. I run it with a strong firm hand. The kids have been raised right so they know in general cheating is wrong.

AE: Right now for fantasy football who are the top three guys in order you have going first, second, and third in this year’s draft?

MB: I think you have to go running back early this year. At the moment I have Adrian Peterson, Arian Foster, and Doug Martin.

It’s drafting time, gamers. Now you can go with your gut when assembling your team, but it wouldn’t hurt to inform your selections with a little bit of light fantasy football reading before your make believe team is on the clock. Here are some quick, easy reads that’ll get you geared up for draft day: